Senior Care in Seattle WA: Talking Dementia with Your Doctor
from Alzheimer’s Weekly
Health care can be confusing.

Whether you are just starting treatment or your treatment is already underway, it is never too late to take an active role in your health care.

By talking with your doctor, nurses, and other people on your health care team, you can make sure you are not missing the best treatment for you.

Here are a few tips to help you better understand your treatment options:

1. Give your doctor as much information as you can.
Don’t wait for your doctor to ask questions. Share everything—even information that might be embarrassing. This information can help your doctor make better recommendations.

• Tell your doctor about all your symptoms.
• Talk about what is most important to your quality of life. You can use the Department of Health & Human Services’ Health Priorities Tool to make a list of what is important to you.
• Keep a list of your past illnesses, operations, and treatments. Share the list with your family and bring it to your appointment.
• Bring a list of your medicines (or bring them in a bag) to your appointment. Tell the doctor how much and how often you take each medicine.
• Tell your doctor about allergies, reactions, or side effects you’ve had from medicines.
• Tell your doctor if you take herbal products or alternative medicines, supplements, or treatments.

2. Ask as many questions as you need to understand your diagnosis.

If you do not ask questions, your doctor may think you understand everything you are being told.

Write down your questions before your visit so you do not forget anything. Start by asking the most important ones and work your way down the list. To get you started, here are some questions you might want to ask:

• Why would this treatment be good for me?
• What are the chances this treatment will work?
• When will I notice a difference?
• How much does this treatment cost?
• Will this treatment hurt?
• What are my other options?
• Are there side effects?
• What can be done about the side effects?

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If you and your family are facing dementia in a parent or loved one and need help with care, Andelcare is the answer. For information about how Andelcare can help you and your family with senior care in Seattle WA, call our caregivers at 888-788-3051. We provide quality and affordable care and assistance to seniors, veterans and the disabled in our community.

12 Fun Ways Seniors Can Get in Shape
Take up tango. Hit the bowling lanes. There are plenty of great low-impact exercises for seniors; and the options on this list are fun, too.
By Wyatt Myers

Senior Care Seattle WA: If you’re a senior, few things are more important to your health than exercise. The problem? Many seniors find themselves able to do fewer physical activities as they get older. Frustration often ensues, and this can create a vicious circle that leads to even less activity, further senior health problems, and in some cases, immobility. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Seniors shouldn’t feel that they are limited in the activities available to them. In fact, it’s quite the contrary — there are dozens of exercises for seniors, many of which are non-traditional, low-impact exercises that limit stress on the body and risk of injury.

Here are 12 exercises that are sure to keep you engaged at every age.

12 Great Exercises for Seniors

1. Take up dancing. A recent study at the University of Missouri showed that dancing helped improve seniors’ gait and balance and could help prevent dangerous injuries from falls. “Dancing is a fantastic way to get some cardiovascular benefit, improve your coordination and balance, and meet local seniors who enjoy similar activities,” says Carrie Plummer, MSN, an instructor at the Vanderbilt School of Nursing in Nashville, Tenn. For many types of dance classes, you don’t even have to bring a partner.

2. Become a Zen master. “Research has shown that participating in low-impact exercise classes, such as tai chi or yoga, can help improve strength, balance, and coordination and reduce stress,” says Plummer. “Many yoga poses can be modified to work for those who are less flexible or have decreased upper or lower body strength.”

3. Hit the links. Golf is a go-to game for competitive seniors who want to get back to nature in a fun way.

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For information about Andelcare and how we can help with all of your senior care needs, call our caregivers at 888-788-3051. We are a home care agency providing quality and affordable senior care in Seattle WA and the surrounding communities.

Depression: Not a Normal Part of Aging
Although depression is common among older people, it’s not an inevitable part of aging.

Depression strikes more frequently among seniors than other population groups, but there are a few steps you can take to lower your risk. Try these six steps:

• Prepare for major life changes, such as retirement or moving from your home of many years. Expect these changes to bring discomfort and plan ahead to implement ways to make them easier.

• Work to maintain friendships. Friends can help ease transitions, especially the loneliness of losing a spouse.

• Develop a hobby. Hobbies may help keep your mind and body active.

• Stay in touch with family. Let them help you when you feel sad.

• If you are faced with an overwhelming list of tasks to do, break it up into smaller jobs that are easier to finish.

• Get physically active. Exercise can help prevent depression or lift your mood if you are already depressed.

Older people who are depressed can gain mental as well as physical benefits from mild forms of exercise like walking outdoors or in shopping malls. Gardening, dancing, and swimming are good forms of exercise. Pick something you enjoy and begin with 10 to 15 minutes a day. Increase the time as you get stronger. Being physically fit and eating a balanced diet may help avoid illnesses that can bring on disability or depression.

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If you or your loved one needs help or assistance with senior care in Seattle WA, contact the caregivers at Andelcare. We are a home care agency providing quality and affordable senior care in our community. Call 888-788-3051.

Senior Care Goes Hi-tech
By Tracey Curry, staff writer

Donna Sergisson waits to see her doctor — not from the waiting room at his office, but from the comfort of her own home.

“I don’t have to get up early and get everything together to get to the appointment,” the wheelchair-bound resident said. “It’s amazing what they can do now with technology.”

Sergisson is one of about 25 residents at the nursing home in Lyons who visit doctors electronically through new, state-of-the-art telehealth services. It’s only one of four of its kind across the state.

High-tech health care
In the past, when a resident needed to go to the doctor’s office, a staff member would book an appointment and arrange for transportation. On the day of the appointment, staff and patient would get ready, wait for the transportation to arrive, go to the doctor’s office, check in and wait to see the doctor. After the appointment, they’d wait for transportation to take them back to the nursing home.

Learning that a handful of nursing homes in the Albany and Buffalo areas were using videoconference equipment to have residents meet with physicians, it was a service nursing home officials said they wished they could offer their residents.

“We explored our options and got quotes,” said Assistant Administrator Cathie Chabrier, who managed the two-year project. “We thought it was too expensive for us.

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For questions about senior care in Seattle WA or the surrounding area, contact the caregivers at Andelcare. We are a home care agency providing quality and affordable elder care to our seniors, veterans and the disabled. Call 888-788-3051 for more information.

A Profile of Older Americans: 2010

Senior Care in Seattle WA

• The older population (65+) numbered 39.6 million in 2009, an increase of 4.3 million or 12.5% since 1999.
• The number of Americans aged 45-64 – who will reach 65 over the next two decades – increased by 26% during this decade.
• Over one in every eight, or 12.9%, of the population is an older American.
• Persons reaching age 65 have an average life expectancy of an additional 18.6 years (19.9 years for females and 17.2 years for males).
• Older women outnumber older men at 22.7 million older women to 16.8 million older men.
• In 2009, 19.9% of persons 65+ were minorities–8.3% were African Americans.** Persons of Hispanic origin (who may be of any race) represented 7.0% of the older population. About 3.4% were Asian or Pacific Islander,** and less than 1% were American Indian or Native Alaskan.** In addition, 0.6% of persons 65+ identified themselves as being of two or more races.
• Older men were much more likely to be married than older women–72% of men vs. 42% of women (Figure 2). 42% older women in 2009 were widows.
• About 30% (11.3 million) of noninstitutionalized older persons live alone (8.3 million women, 3.0 million men).
• Half of older women (49%) age 75+ live alone.
• About 475,000 grandparents aged 65 or more had the primary responsibility for their grandchildren who lived with them.
• The population 65 and over will increase from 35 million in 2000 to 40 million in 2010 (a 15% increase) and then to 55 million in 2020 (a 36% increase for that decade).
• The 85+ population is projected to increase from 4.2 million in 2000 to 5.7 million in 2010 (a 36% increase) and then to 6.6 million in 2020 (a 15% increase for that decade).
• Minority populations are projected to increase from 5.7 million in 2000 (16.3% of the elderly population) to 8.0 million in 2010 (20.1% of the elderly) and then to 12.9 million in 2020 (23.6% of the elderly).

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If you or someone you know needs help with senior care in Seattle WA or the surrounding area, contact the caregivers at Andelcare. We provide quality and affordable in-home care for many seniors, veterans and disabled loved ones in our community. Call us at 888-788-3051 for more information.

September is National Afib Month
What is “Afib”? Learn More About Seniors and Atrial Fibrillation During National Afib Month?

National AFib (Atrial Fibrillation) month occurs annually in September. It is important for people who have been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation to understand what this diagnosis means and what to expect in the future. The term itself means that there is an abnormal heart rhythm present. This occurs in the upper two chambers of the heart called the atria. Seniors and those who have been diagnosed with this condition may experience palpitations, shortness of breath, and many times dizziness. People who suffer from this have described it as feeling like “flip-flops” or “fluttering.” Some have described it as feeling like their heart is “pounding out of their chest.”

AF is a common heart condition among the young and elderly. If a patient mentions to his doctor that he feels a fast, irregular, or “quivering” in his chest the doctor may perform an exam to determine if it is actually Afib. If it is detected, the physician will order more intense testing to determine the severity of the problem. If the irregular beat has a very fast onset, accompanied by chest pain it is very important to receive professional care right away! This could be an emergency that requires immediate treatment. The heart carries oxygenated blood to other areas of the body and when there is a reduction in the supply that is distributed to body organs, damage can occur. This is why it is important to keep regular appointments so that the doctor can monitor a person closely and regularly after receiving a definite diagnosis of having this condition.

The patient’s treatment plan will depend on a physician’s rating the severity of the irregular rhythm. This can be done by a test called an echocardiogram, or by wearing a holster monitor to record the rhythm of the heart. Sometimes medicine to thin the blood, (anticoagulants) will be prescribed. This medication will help to prevent clotting that can lead to strokes. Clotting occurs because the heart is not pumping the blood from the heart in the manner in which it needs to, thus causing a pooling of the blood leading to blood clot formation.

There are some things that can raise the risks of stroke or heart disease occurring such as smoking, fat intake, physical activity level, obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Routine exams with a physician are critical if there is a potential increased risk to the patient caused by these factors after they were diagnosed with the atrial fibrillation. It is important that the patient do as much as possible to keep the risks lower such as changing his diet, quitting smoking, and becoming more active.

For most people, this ailment is not an extremely severe condition, but it does need to be monitored by a physician for the prevention of future problems such as congestive heart failure and stroke. For seniors and the elderly, afib can be an alarming diagnosis. With regular exams, and the proper guidance of a qualified health professional, the diagnosis doesn’t automatically indicate that this is a life threatening condition and it can be treated properly and effectively by following the physician’s orders as directed.

At Andelcare, we recognize that there are many reasons why a loved one may need senior care. From seniors with Alzheimer’s Disease to patients with disabilities to caregivers needing respite care, we are here to provide quality and affordable senior care in Seattle and the surrounding communities. Call us for information, 888-788-3051.

Alzheimer’s Caregiving: How To Ask For Help
Alzheimer’s caregiving isn’t a one-person task — and friends and loved ones may be more willing to help than you’d think. Here’s help reaching out.
By Mayo Clinic staff

Alzheimer’s caregiving is a tough job, and it’s too much for one person to handle alone. No one is equipped to care for another person 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you’re caring for a loved one who has Alzheimer’s disease, understand the stress you’re facing — and know how to ask for help.

What’s happening

At first, you may be able to meet your loved one’s needs yourself. This may last months or even years, depending on how quickly the disease progresses and your own mental and physical health. Eventually, however, your loved one will need more help with everyday tasks such as eating, bathing and toileting. And just as the physical demands of Alzheimer’s caregiving increase, so can the emotional toll.

Challenging dementia-related behaviors can strain the coping skills of even the most patient and understanding Alzheimer’s caregiver.

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Alzheimer’s home care counselors at Andelcare are available to talk with you and your family about care needs for your loved one, including, how to reduce caregiver stress while providing affordable and quality care. Andelcare is a home care agency providing Alzheimer’s Home Care in Seattle WA and surrounding communities.

You vs. Flu: 5 Things You May Not Know

(ARA) – Flu season is here, and there are simple, everyday actions you can take to help you and your family stay healthy.

Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or your sleeve when you sneeze, and avoid contact with those who are sick. But the most important thing you can do to prevent the flu is get vaccinated each year.

CVS pharmacist Shirley Scott offers five things you may not know about flu vaccination.

1. Even if you were vaccinated last year or early in 2011, you still need to get a flu shot this year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that anyone ages 6 months or older should get a flu shot, including those who were vaccinated last season. The flu vaccine’s ability to help protect you declines from one year to the next. So even though the vaccine has the same ingredients as last season, you still need to get a flu shot. Remember that vaccination is your first line of defense against the flu.

2. You should get a flu shot as early as possible.

It takes about two weeks for your body to develop full protection against flu symptoms. Seasonal flu can be unpredictable, and even healthy people can get seriously ill from the flu. For best protection, it’s important to get a flu shot as soon as it is available.

3. Flu vaccinations are easier than ever to obtain.

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Andelcare provides premier home care in Seattle, Bellevue and surrounding areas. For information about how the caregivers at Andelcare can help your family care for a loved one, call 888-788-3051.We provide companionship, homemaking and personal home care services for many seniors, veterans and disabled in our community.

Caring For Aging Parents
Adult children should discuss care ahead of time
Written by, Barb Berggoetz

It’s 3 a.m., and your phone startles you out of a sound sleep.

Your 70-year-old mother has suffered a stroke. You rush to her house nearby to take her to the hospital.

But you’re not prepared. She’s incoherent. You forget the name of her primary care doctor and don’t know what medications she’s taking.

This may be an all-too-common scenario, as adult children struggle to take care of aging parents, and sometimes grandparents, and their often-complex medical needs.

Being a caregiver, even if it’s only part-time or for emergencies, is challenging.

When do you step in? How do you offer advice without being bossy? What can you do to help prevent emergencies? How do you best handle them when they happen?

“Preparing in advance really helps because it helps you to stay calm,” said Tamara Wolske, director of the Center for Aging and Community at the University of Indianapolis. “The more you prepare, the easier it will be to make things simple for yourself and your loved one in a crisis.”

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Andelcare provides premier home care in Seattle, Bellevue and surrounding areas. For information about how the caregivers at Andelcare can help your family care for a loved one, call 888-788-3051. We provide companionship, homemaking and personal home care services for many seniors, veterans and disabled in our community.

Caregivers In Need of Some Care
By Michelle Singletary

WASHINGTON – America is facing a crisis that will make the federal budget deficit look like a simple bank overdraft fee.

If we don’t figure out how to provide financial support to the millions of family members taking care of seniors with chronic conditions or disabilities, we will have caregivers so overwhelmed that they will be forced to stop helping their elderly relatives. That cost of care will then transfer to the government, and this would mean astronomically higher health care costs or more people being placed in nursing homes, according to a new report from AARP’s Public Policy Institute.

In 2009, about 42.1 million family caregivers provided assistance to an adult with limitations in daily activities such as going to the bathroom, preparing meals or making it to a doctor’s appointment. The AARP report estimates the economic value of family caregiving at $450 billion in 2009, based on those 42.1 million caregivers age 18 or older providing an average of 18.4 hours of care per week at an average value of $11.16 per hour.

Just imagine if much of this voluntary care were gone.

Historically, providing care to the elderly wasn’t such a dire public policy issue.

People didn’t live as long as they do now. But what happens when the need for long-term care goes on for years or decades?

The long-term care needs of many of our elderly are straining families, just as family structures have changed and during one of the worst economies in decades.

There are more women in the workforce, making it harder for them to provide care.

Almost two-thirds of family caregivers are female. More than eight in 10 care for a relative or friend age 50 or older.

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The caregivers at Andelcare are available to talk with you and your family about all of your live-in home care needs. Andelcare is a home care agency providing quality and affordable home care in Seattle and the surrounding areas. Call 888-788-3051 for more information.